Saturday, November 15, 2008

I was not happy with the direction my HP Razor Sharp pants were going. Friday night, I was reading Nancy Zieman's Fitting Finesse book, and she has a whole chapter on fitting pants. I woke up at 4:00 Saturday morning and couldn't sleep, so I got up and started taking measurements. I went over to my cutting table and started retracing the pattern, using the pivot and slide method. This time I started with a 12 and made adjustments from there.

The directions in the pattern were very confusing, and because I did not understand their facing/fly front directions, the facing pattern did not fit. I had to re-cut a front facing, and then I used bias tape to finish the edges of the fly facing so that I would not cover up the zipper. I know there has to be a better way to do a fly front with no waistband, but I haven't found good directions yet (or maybe I just don't understand them) I tried to get a good picture of the fly front, but black just doesn't photograph well. This picture is of the inside of the fly with the extension sewn in place.

This time I used Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing book for the order of construction, and disregarded the HP directions completely. The only problem with this, again, was the fact that there was no waistband.

The whole time I was making these I was thinking, "These are turning out pretty good. I sure hope they fit!" Now that I've tried them on, I think the fit is pretty good, but the legs are still a lot fuller than I would like, and the shape of them is nothing at all like the front of the pattern. Now that I'm in my 50's, I can see that I've acquired the "low butt, high tummy" syndrome. Damn... I guess I really should start going to the gym. You can also see in this picture that the pockets kind of stick out at the top, and I'm really hoping these don't stretch out in the waist. The lining is showing a bit on this side, but it doesn't on the other side. I think if I would have top-stitched the pockets, that would have eliminated that. The fabric is a triacetate that I got from Fabric Mart last year, and I've never worked with it before.

Overall, I think the fit is good on these. I'm really glad I used N.Z.'s method of getting the fit right. It worked for me on these, and I will try it again on a different pattern. I won't make this pattern again. Even though the fit is right, I don't like the way the waist is and I don't like the shape of the legs that much. I don't think they look as "modern" as I thought they would (but maybe I'm disillusioning myself and need to be thinking about how to get a more "modern" body to put the pants on! LOL. I'm glad to have a good pair of black pants, but the fly, fly facingings, and doubled fly back flap make for a really heavy front of the pants. Also, the pockets add to this. The one thing I DO like about this pattern is the extra wide waist facings. You need them because of all the weight of the pants.

Next up, I'd like to make a couple of quick and easy things. I am going to make a twin set using this black and brown knit.

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comments:

Hmm...they look good to me. I dunno about this "50s" stuff since I have low butt high tummy and have since my 20s. I prefer to think of it as womanly figure. :) But really, the wide legs are pretty nice looking, they make the pants rather dressy. nice job! (I have a HP skirt I was going to work on...I'll have to see how the instructions are)

I think they look great, I have the same problem as you, but the curve over my butt creats a swayback I never had unless I was pregnant. The knit looks like Fabric.com, I think I have the same or similar.

The pants are great and don't you like the power Sewing technique for the zipper? I've been using it since I attended a Sandra Betzina fitting workshop. About the style of the pant,I know what you mean although they look great on you. I really like pants to be a little fitted through the hip and a little flared at the bottom.I've sewn Vogue 2873 a few times and love them. I'll try a pair on a get a picture on my blog if you'd like to see what I mean about the fit.It'll be a couple of days as my DH is away at the moment.I'm 60 years old and I know all too much about what gravity does to the body.I have the Nancy Z. book too but must admit I use Sandra's Fast fit all the time.One of these days, I want to use the method Nancy describes in her book.Happy Sewing! Diana